Apc 3000 Serial Connection Settings
Hi guys,Happy SysAdmin day to everyone.We have an APC smart ups, which came with a network port on the back. I hadn't tried connecting it until now, but I thought I'd give it a shot.So, connected a network cable to the UPS, took the other end over and plugged it into a switch.Looked on the switch and noticed no activity. That's odd.Looked back at the UPS and noticed the LCD screen displaying something along the lines of 'shutting down output by remote request', and powered itself off!Luckily we have the load for each device spread between 2 NAS boxes, and so everything just kicked over to the other one, and nothing went down!Any ideas why this happened?David. To chime in on a few things.- Unless you're looking for new UPS capabilities/functionality, it's cheaper to replace the batteries than get a new UPS.- At 3 years old, I would not assume that the batteries are still good. For the unit you have, we've had customers say that batteries started to fail at the 2+ year mark. It partly depends on the environment that UPS is in.
Batteries don't like heat, so if the UPS is in a warm room that will significantly impact battery life. If the UPS has been subject to lots out outages, then that will shorten battery life as well. Probably a good idea to check the UPS manual and run a battery diagnostic check via the front panel or UPS software.- In terms of repair, UPS manufacturers generally do depot repair for the UPSs 3 kVA and below meaning that you unplug the UPS and send it in. There are options to expedite this-you can get a new UPS sent in overnight, etc.- If you are looking for an alternative model at 3000 VA, check out the.- knackered: adjective British Slang. Exhausted; very tired: 'He is really knackered after work.' (I learn so much here on Spiceworks!!).
It's very likely the cable you hooked up to the APC monitoring port had some kind of loop-back that triggered the built-in UPS shutdown feature. The local communications ports on UPS systems evolved from a basic contact-closure interface - which is sometimes built-into the DB9 serial port on the back of the UPS. The UPS will bridge two of the pins in the serial port to signal ON BATTERY (tells your equipment to run a particular number of minutes before shutting down), and two other pins to signal LOW BATTERY (tells your equipment to shut down right away, because the UPS battery is low) - and when the connected equipment returns a signal across two particular pins, it signals UPS SHUTDOWN (in its' last breath before shutting down, your server is saying to the UPS - we're down, you can turn off now). Because you're dealing with contact-closure communications, you can simulate all of these pin configurations with a paper-clip to test all 3 functions.In order to keep the pins straight as read by the UPS vendor software - you have to use the correct cable included with the UPS. If you grab an off the shelf RS232 cable - the connections may fit, but depending on how that cable is wired, the cable wiring alone may have bridged the appropriate pins to trigger a UPS shutdown.This is only a possibility - I'm sure APC support could identify more clearly what steps you may need to take to configure the auto shutdown ability using the local ports.
The card option could get you there too with even more options.
Patented green operating mode achieves efficiencies over 97%. Smart-ups was the first network UPS to be Energy Star certified. Intelligent battery management, pioneered by APC, maximizes battery performance and life through intelligent, precision temperature compensated charging.
What Is A Serial Connection
Dynamic battery replacement date indicator and automatic self tests insure battery reliability and warn in advance of needing replacement. Convenient, easy to connect, hot-swappable battery modules provide battery replacement without powering down. Designed and manufactured by APC for over 23 years, Smart-UPS is the world’s most trusted network UPS with over 25 million units sold.